Billy Camden | FE Week

Independent review to check ESFA ‘remains effective’

An independent review has been launched to ensure the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) “remains effective into the future”, the government has announced. The review will look at the “operating model, governance, accountability and impact” of the organisation. It is part of wider programme of reviews into arm’s length bodies. The ESFA is accountable […]

Remote apprenticeship assessment to be made permanent option

Remote delivery of apprenticeship assessment will become a permanent option that providers can use beyond Covid-19, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has announced. The institute said today that the apprenticeship flexibilities and temporary discretions introduced to support the sector through the pandemic will run until the end of 2021, but a number will […]

New Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education chair named

A life peer who stood in the London mayoral election for 2020 has been appointed as the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s new chair. Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith has been appointed by education secretary Gavin Williamson to serve in the post from 1 August 2021 for a period of five years. She replaces Antony Jenkins […]

Somerset Skills & Learning to make more redundancies after latest AEB tender debacle

Staff are being made redundant at a large community learning provider in Somerset after it was dealt yet another damaging blow from an Education and Skills Funding Agency tender. Somerset Skills & Learning was refused a £1.1 million contract in the recent national adult education budget (AEB) procurement, leaving the education of 300 people hanging […]

Pearson to return 33% of exam fees

Pearson has finally revealed its hand on exam fee rebates, announcing today it will return 33 per cent of fees for GCSE and A-levels back to schools and colleges. The company’s exam board, Edexcel, will return £31 million in fees via a rebate to schools and colleges, meaning it sits in the middle of offers […]

Subcontracting rules watered down just a day after being published

A new rule that would force providers to gain permission before charging subcontracting management fees above 20 per cent was published in “error”, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has claimed. The ESFA says the policy will now be corrected, just a day after sending it out to the sector. In a new subcontracting “standard” […]

Hospitality and catering courses added to level 3 lifetime skills guarantee offer

The government has added hospitality and catering courses to its new level 3 adult offer after controversially excluding the industry when the policy was first announced. Almost 400 level 3 qualifications covering sectors including engineering, construction, public services and IT have been fully funded for all adults without a full qualification at level 3 – […]

Williamson slammed for ‘ignoring’ concerns about scrapping BTECs

Twelve education bodies have today slammed the education secretary for “ignoring” their concerns and ploughing ahead with plans to scrap the majority of BTECs. In a letter to Gavin Williamson, sector leaders reiterate that disadvantaged students have the “most to lose” and that it is “impossible to square the government’s stated ambition to ‘level up’ […]

Union calls for formal review after OCR confirms 42% exam fees rebate

Exam board OCR has confirmed it will give schools and colleges a rebate of 42 per cent of fees for GCSEs and A-levels. The announcement is likely to put more pressure on AQA – the country’s largest exam board – to up its rebate. The board will only return 26 per cent of entry fees, […]